Max - Yes. I think that's in there too. I think, as you said, the biggest challenge is discovering what's left out or not necessary. It reminds me a bit of learning Javscript. On the surface, it looks quite like C, but there are plenty of differences. The Arduino was easier for me to pick up than Javascript though.

@Max, that is quite the office. I think that you need a few more computers in there. Though when you think about it, I think that I could probably dig up about the same number, though that is not counting the ones that you have at home, so you probably still have me beat.

@Max, Susan: I have heard too that it is very easy to use a Arduino board...I have seen people, having not much of experiences of writing codes for microcontroller (in C or similar) talking about using these boards...what makes it so special? The IDE? Built-in resources in libraries?

Thanks Duane! Anon - I haven't picked up the $8.00 board, but if it uses the Arduino IDE, it should support PWM. Depending on which motor driver chip you are using, you'll need one PWM per motor and on, two or three extra digital I/O lines per motor.

I have a tower computer (very good deal secondhand from eBay) with a Dual-Processor Xeon (each with 2 cores) driving three 28" screens *they were on special offer) -- and also a notepad driving a 21" screen ... .and that doesn't count the Desk Treadmill which has another notepad with a 19" screen on it.

Garcia - The Arduino language is based on a language called Processing, which I'm not familiar with. It does use C-like syntax but has some odd structure. The breadth of the driver set is amazing. New sensors and peripherals seem to get drivers written up quite fast.

That's what I like about these boards...they inspire people from all walks of life. As a tech editor who started in print -- no EE degree, I'm surprised that I covet these boards. I want to try a project on one. But I'm a beginner.

@All: Question ... a lot of the time you see the term "Arduino" used without an article ... like the book "Learning Electronics with Arduino" ... but sometimes you see folks using an article like "The Arduino" or "An Arduino" ... any idea which is the most correct? I wondered if th elack of "The" and "An" and suchlike was due to the fact that th eoruginators of the Arduino are Italian...

@Duane: Outside of the hobby and cool gadget markets, I'm not sure many engineers take the Arduino seriously. I see that changing in the not too distant future though. I'm working with a ChipKit Arduino that's powered by a 32 bit PIC with 512K of RAM. Boards in this class could start to change attitudes, especially for engineers in non electronics and non software fields.

@Garcia: Atmel AVR based design tools are free and very complete too!! -- I'm sure you can use it over the Arduino boards

I haven; tused them, but my understanding is that you are correct -- the Atmel tools can be used to program the Arduino ... on the other hand, the Arduino IDE is 100% geared up to the Arduino, so why not stick with that?

Susan - Outside of the hobby and cool gadget markets, I'm not sure many engineers take the Arduino seriously. I see that changing in the not too distant future though. I'm working with a ChipKit Arduino that's powered by a 32 bit PIC with 512K of RAM. Boards in this class could start to change attitudes, especially for engineers in non electronics and non software fields.

You have no idea -- I have a telephone headset on and am involved in a conference call as we speak -- plus I have three computer screens in addition to thsi one all "pinging" me with emails and instant messages and... arrggghhh

@Max: Thank a lot! That should help me in getting started. I have heard here from the people talking about Arduino more and more as the development tools, boards are easily available and having low cost.

@Garcia: About the $8 board... must the discrete components be separately bought or are they included in an all-in-one kit?

My impression is that everything comes in the $8 kit ... but I haven't seen it yet (Caleb has dropped one tnto the post to me -- it should arrive on Monday -- so email me on Tuesday to ask me (max.maxfield@ubm.com)

That little Arduino board is an interesting device, though I am not a big fan of Arduino. Even as I am stepping into the 32bit world with ARM Cortex M, I find most of the library functions for peripheral initialization not much easier than just initializing the registers themselves. From what I have heard with Arduino, most people struggle once they start to get outside the standard set of libraries, but perhaps I should reserve my judgement until I have tried it.

@Sanjin.A: I could not yet tried hands on Arduino. But this is slowly but steadily getting popular among the serious electronics hobbyists, some started use it for small automation projects (e.g. building automation)...

Like I say, I just started playing with the Arduino -- I'm having lot sof fun -- I'll be doing a column about the tools I've found and the books and suchlike later today or on Monday -- keep checking the MCU Designline here on EE Times

@Max, Susan: I could not yet tried hands on Arduino. But this is slowly but steadily getting popular among the serious electronics hobbyists, some started use it for small automation projects (e.g. building automation)...I am from industrial electronics background @work so mostly work with biggers stuffs. But @home I love to try this out and most of my experience is with Microchip and TI...I did some small home automation stuffs with the TI launchpad...this $8 board is someting I will look forward to collect.

Has anyone seen that new Google "stick" -- about the size of a USB memory stick -- that plug sinto th eHDMI port on your TV and allows you to wirelessly display videos from your iPad etc ... like an ApleTV but only $35

Garcia - There's a Linux-based OS called XBMC for the Raspberry Pi (it's also available for PC) that essentialy makes it into a set-top box. I've tried it at 1080p. The Pi is really slow in the menus but the TV viewing seems to be fine at 1080p.

@ kfield- Add-on boards can be an additional cost, but when you can't find a single board with your specific requirements (analog or Wireless for example) a standard base-board with add-on cards is the way to go. It also protects your investment in your main code if you don't need to hop from single board to single board as you change projects...

I was originally working with Rich Q at MCC. I had suggested a series of articles that I wish someone on his site might write. He then turned and offered me the chance to write it. I was able to get a few posts in before the site was merged into EETimes. Max graciously offered to take me on, and I have received a very warm welcome.

Anon - I haven't picked up the $8.00 board, but if it uses the Arduino IDE, it should support PWM. Depending on which motor driver chip you are using, you'll need one PWM per motor and on, two or three extra digital I/O lines per motor.

There are a lot of "android mini-pc" sticks out there for <$100, but most of them have at least one down side. Which one to choose depends on how you plan to use it... e.g. with a "fly mouse / keyboard", etc

I was having this conversation with Caleb Kraft, author of the article on the tiny development board, about the fact that there is a trend in these super low cost single board computers, but isn't it a drawback that everything is an add-on? Aren't there cases where one would rather just have a tablet with everything, including the display, integrated?